Stefanos Tsitsipas could be in danger of falling to his lowest ranking since he was 19 years old.
Tsitsipas won the Dubai Tennis Championships last year, which was the first time the former world number three had ever won an ATP 500 title.
However, this was a rare moment of joy for him last year, with Tsitsipas struggling with a back problem for most of the year.
As Tsitsipas looks to rediscover his form in Dubai once again, he could be in danger of a huge ranking drop after his draw was announced.
Stefanos Tsitsipas could fall outside the top 50 in the ATP rankings
Tsitsipas has played two ATP tournaments since his early exit from the Australian Open, losing to Botic Van de Zandschulp in Rotterdam and suffering a quarterfinal loss to Andrey Rublev in Doha.
The Greek will now turn his attention to the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he is the defending champion.
Who is the best ATP player never to win a Grand Slam title?
Is it Alexander Zverev, Marcelo Rios, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer or maybe even someone else?
While Tsitsipas is the defending champion in Dubai, he is not seeded after falling outside the top 30 for the first time since 2018 last year.
As a result, Tsitsipas could have faced anyone from the first round and he has drawn former world number 13 Ugo Humbert.
Humbert is also a former champion in Dubai, having won the title in 2024, and the world number 36 has already reached one ATP final this year.
Tsitsipas will also be discouraged by the fact that he has lost three of his four previous meetings against Humbert, all of which have been on hard courts.
| Dubai Tennis Championships 2026 | Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Potential Opponent |
| First Round | Ugo Humbert |
| Second Round | Andrey Rublev (5)/Valentin Royer |
| Quarterfinal | Jack Draper (4)/Arthur Rinderknech/Fabian Marozsan/Quentin Halys |
| Semifinal | Alexander Bublik (2)/Jakub Mensik (6)/Tallon Griekspoor/Hubert Hurkacz |
| Final | Felix Auger-Aliassime (1)/Daniil Medvedev (3)/Karen Khachanov (7)/Jiri Lehecka (8) |
Even if Tsitsipas is able to overcome Humbert, he could play fifth seed Rublev in the second round, having lost to him in Doha this week.
This puts a lot of pressure on Tsitsipas, who is defending 500 of his 1535 ranking points in Dubai this week.
If Tsitsipas loses in the first round to Humbert then he would fall down to world number 45 in the live rankings, and could even drop outside the top 50 for the first time since April 2018.
Stefanos Tsitsipas could actually be boosted by ranking drop
Tsitsipas has recently cast doubt over his future, which may be heightened if he does suffer a fall down the rankings.
However, Tsitsipas falling down the rankings may actually benefit him in a way that would not be expected.
Tsitsipas currently has a lot of pressure on him surrounding his title defence in Dubai, and it will probably be beneficial for him to be relieved of this pressure after the coming week.
What has been the best ATP match of 2026?
Tell us in the comments below!
The 27-year-old should be able to play more freely as a lower-ranked player, and Tsitsipas could go more under the radar if he is lower down the rankings.
This could be hugely beneficial to Tsitsipas, who has struggled to reach the previous heights he set for himself as a two-time Grand Slam finalist.
Tsitsipas will begin his Dubai title defence against Humbert on Tuesday, February 24.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
